BBC fork out £1million... on cost-cutting consultants

BBC bosses have spent almost £1million of licence fee cash on financial consultants to tell them how to save money.

The £928,000 is not even one third of what the corporation spent on consultants last fiscal year

However, the £928,000 given to moneysaving experts was less than a third of the £3million that corporation chiefs splashed out on consultants in the last financial year.

The figures were revealed as the broadcaster announced plans for deep cuts to sports, comedy, entertainment and factual shows. The Red Button interactive service, popular during big events such as Glastonbury and the Olympics, is also likely to be axed.

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But it is only a third of the planned £150million cuts that are expected to be found by trimming bureaucracy. Last night Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance pressure group, said: “Licence fee payer will be very surprised that so much of their hard-earned cash goes on expensive consultants and strategists rather than on programme-making.

The television tax is incredibly regressive, hitting the poorest families hardest, so BBC bosses need to explain why they have spent almost 21,000 households’ annual fee on costly outside advice on top of the bill for its army of in-house staff

Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance

“The television tax is incredibly regressive, hitting the poorest families hardest, so BBC bosses need to explain why they have spent almost 21,000 households’ annual fee on costly outside advice on top of the bill for its army of in-house staff.”

The findings, revealed through a Freedom of Information request, found the £3million consultants’ budget for 2014-2015 included £225,000 on various management specialists, despite the BBC employing 74 bosses who all earn more than the Prime Minister’s £142,500 salary.

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The red button service is also expected to be cut

A further £1,256,000 went on “corporate strategy” specialists. The corporation splashed out £78,000 on media consultants, even though it has its own army of 129 press officers, four times the number working for ITV and Channel 4.

Last night a BBC spokesman said money spent on consultants was “significantly less” than the previous year. He said the corporation used a “framework of consultancy providers” whose terms and day rates were agreed through a competitive tendering process.

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The majority of the cuts are expected to come from bureaucracy

He added: “We are obliged to use external organisations to audit our accounts. On occasion, just like any other organisation, we also use external companies for specialist services.

“This saves the BBC millions of pounds because it is cheaper than employing permanent, full-time staff to carry out work which would only last a short period.”